Unveiling the Mystery: Is Kimimaro an Otsutsuki in Naruto?

Many fans were disappointed by Naruto's ending due to questionable decisions, particularly the inclusion of Kaguya as the final boss. After the focus on defeating Madara Uchiha, the twist of Black Zetsu's betrayal and the revelation of Kaguya as an Otsutsuki, who hailed from the moon, became the main focus. This theme continues in Boruto to this day. Some fans have defended the Kaguya twist, citing foreshadowing in the original series through the character of Kimimaro, one of Orochimaru's men in the Sasuke Retrieval arc.

Naruto: Explaining why Kimimaro Kaguya isn't an Otsutsuki

Kimimaro was going to be Orochimaru's new body (Image via Studio Pierrot).

The addition of Kaguya and the Otsutsuki clan in the final part of the Naruto series has been widely criticized for negatively impacting the story. Some believe that the franchise has struggled to fully recover as a result. Nevertheless, this has sparked speculation about Kimimaro potentially being an Otsutsuki, given the similarity in clan names.

Kimimaro is not an Otsutsuki, and despite some similarities with Kaguya, there is no connection between the two. There has been no confirmation of any connection in the franchise, and author Masashi Kishimoto has not addressed this. The coincidence is due to the fact that the name Kaguya is part of Japanese mythology, which was a major inspiration for Kishimoto.

The naming of the final boss as Kaguya could be seen as a questionable choice, given that Kishimoto had already named a clan that. There was no effort made to connect the two characters, and in all fairness, it wasn't necessary either. While Kimimaro showed promise as a character, he never had a significant role in the story, making it seem like a lazy attempt to add legitimacy to the final boss twist.

The promise of the Kimimaro character

Naruto excels at creating compelling antagonists with deep motivations and backstories, such as Orochimaru, Pain, early Itachi, and Madara. Despite this, many fans felt that Kimimaro was underutilized and deserved more prominence in the series.

Naruto's final challenge before reaching Sasuke was supposed to be Kimimaro, but Rock Lee and Gaara stepped in as Naruto pursued his friend. It was in this battle that Kimimaro's extraordinary bone abilities were revealed, along with the fact that he was the sole survivor of his clan and would have become Orochimaru's new host if not for a fatal illness.

The character had a strong origin story, a cool design, great abilities, and not even the combined efforts of Gaara and Rock Lee were enough to defeat him. It took that very disease to kill, which goes to show how powerful he was, and is a shame that the story didn't give him more to work with.

Final thoughts

Kimimaro isn't related to the Otsutsuki and his clan's name is nothing but a coincidence, at least based on what has been shown in the Naruto franchise thus far.

In many ways, this also serves to remind people of how forced Kaguya's inclusion was in the final stretch of the original series.

Editor's P/S

In my opinion, the theory that Kimimaro is an Otsutsuki is an interesting one, but ultimately unfounded. While there are some similarities between Kimimaro and Kaguya, such as their shared last name and physical appearance, there is no concrete evidence to support the claim that they are related.

Additionally, the author of Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto, has never confirmed or denied the theory, leaving it up to fans to decide for themselves whether or not they believe it. Personally, I think it would have been more satisfying if Kimimaro had been revealed to be an Otsutsuki, as it would have added more depth to his character and given him a more significant role in the story. However, I understand why Kishimoto may have decided to leave the connection between Kimimaro and Kaguya ambiguous, as it allows fans to continue to speculate and debate about the mysteries of the Naruto universe.